G IS FOR...

G is for GANNET

Gannets are large sea birds which are found in only a few places of the world.  I grew up in Flamborough, on the North Sea where the high Bempton cliffs were only 2 miles away and where a fair-sized colony of Gannets can be found.  I had no idea then how privileged I was to see this magnificent seabird.  They are white with black wing tips and light tan heads when they are fully grown. Their amazing wingspan is as much as 5-6 feet across and they dive from  great heights like a bullet into the sea when they spy food.  Their name is often linked with the Boobies (another seabird) but they are much more graceful and spectacular

As well as the colonies in Northern England, they can be found in Scotland, Norway, Canada, New Jersey, Australia and New Zealand.  I have been fortunate enough to see Gannets in a number of places in the world.  Some of the photos below are not too good as it is hard to take good photos on a rolling ship with surf breaking over rocks not too far away

GANNETS in Norway

GANNETS on Bempton Cliffs , Yorkshire UK

GANNETS  in New Zealand

More GANNETS in New Zealand

GANNETS mate for life and have been known to live for as long as thirty years

THE GRACEFUL, GIGANTIC, GORGEOUS GANNET!

CATS, BIRDS AND ONE MORE PAINTING

The shelter where I volunteer has many cats and kittens.  In one room they have four cats together, living communally.  Two of them are about 5 years old -- not the prettiest cats but they are my favorites because they have the sweetest nature.

 This is STERLING, obviously because he is silver in color.

Here he is again looking lovingly at me.  He follows me around the room.  When I move to another place to sit, he follows.  He would sit and let me pet him all day I think. His fur is not the soft, cuddly kind and his eyes have a hint of copper to them as in the second picture.  His soul-mate is...

MASON.  

A sweet ginger cat.  He came in with an abscess and had to have surgery.  The fur is beginning to grow back now.  But again he has a sweet, sweet nature.  He and Sterling have been at the shelter for about two months now and are the best of friends.  Too bad they are bypassed because of their looks, when they would make just ideal pets. 

In the same room is SUNNY.

She is a Manx tortoiseshell (tailess).

She also loves to be petted by the hour, but she's a bit of a loner when it comes to the other cats.  If they get too close to her she hisses, so like the good natured cats they are they avoid her.  She is about five years old also.  But she has absolutely no problems with humans.  She has been in this room about two weeks.  Too bad I couldn't get a photo of her facing the camera. 

The cats have all kinds of cushions, blankets, and kitty furniture with hidey holes.  

These are my three favorite cats because I get to interact with them every time I go in for as long as I like.

Now come THE BIRDS...

Every afternoon you will find the sparrows and finches sitting in a row on my fence in the afternoon sun.  There are ten in this picture counting the one in the bushes.  But I have counted as many as seventeen, with even more in the hibiscus.  They look like they are in school.  I had to take this photo through the kitchen window.

These two photos are of the phoebe.  It is a fly catcher and usually sits on the fence where the sparrows are, but has now chosen an old palm leaf close to the feeders.

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Finally, here is my painting of the white crowned sparrow, done for Wanda's Challenge. Click on this to visit Wanda and her Laundry Room Art Studio.

WEDNESDAY'S WORDS ON THURSDAY - AND ANOTHER PAINTING

Christopher Hitchens is a well known author and a self professed and confident atheist.  He is also dying of cancer.  I read the following  about him in WORLD magazine this week and it about took my breath away.

WORLD reported that, "Christopher Hitchens said 'I am dying'.  He said that he remains an atheist and that if he ever has a deathbed conversion, that would only mean that the cancer has spread to his brain."  (WORLD magazine , August 28, 2010, page 18).

I am a pastor's wife and a Christian of 55 years.  Of course I'm meant to be shocked.  Poor little old lady that I am, so naive and gullible!  

Such arrogance and defiance in the face of God is shocking to me.  You see, as strongly as Hitchens denies God and mocks those who believe in Him, I just as strongly and perhaps more vehemently, believe in God, man's  sin and Christ's forgiveness.  

Do you think I have lived these 55 years as a Christian and never read or heard atheistic arguments before and that's why I am shocked?  You would be very, very far wrong.  I have studied my faith, the Bible, Church history, various church doctrines and theologies and religions, as well as those who expound opposing arguments.  I am well educated and somewhat of a sceptical person.  

So why am I so shocked?  Because if Hitchens is wrong, he has just shaken his fist in the face of his Creator, the almighty, all powerful God. I wonder how shocked Hitchens will be when he faces his Maker.

However, He does add to his comments quoted above, "Pray for me if you wish."     Death is the great leveler.

God says, "I love those who love me and those who seek me diligently will find me."  Proverbs 8:12

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Wanda's Art Challenge

This is Daisy Mae from Wanda's Art Challenge

It is done in watercolors and a little pen and ink.

I have another one to do this week -- one of my favorite birds, the white crowned sparrow, based on a photo taken by Abe Lincoln.  This will be fun.  I'm having such a good time with my paintings.  Thanks Wanda for the Art Challenge.

F is for ....

FROGGATT EDGE

This is also known as Curbar Edge and is located in the beautiful Peak District of Derbyshire UK., roughly speaking between Bakewell and Sheffield.  The purple in the photo is heather in bloom.

The Edge, which is several miles long, bounds the Derwent River Valley on the east side.  Once you're up and over the Edge you are on flat moorland and on your way to Chesterfield.

Froggatt is important to me because in the valley close to the River Derwent is Cliff College where my husband and I met for the first time. Later in 1965-66 we lived for a year on the college estate while my husband was on staff as an Evangelist.  Cliff College was at that time a Methodist Training College for Lay preachers and evangelists. It has since grown academically and I believe offers university degrees.

There were a number of houses on the estate  for those who worked at the college.  This is where we lived, the last cottage in a row of three located adjacent to Froggatt Edge.  There were fields in front of us and behind us and of course the inevitable sheep.  Our first son, Glyn, was eighteen months old when we moved there  and it was my greatest delight to put him in the stroller, no matter the weather, (we could put the hood up and the rain-cover over him and we would walk the two miles into the village of Baslow, where I would get a cup of coffee and then we walked home again.  Even though my husband's schedule was to be away for ten days and home for four all year long, the year holds very happy memories.  I loved the beautiful landscape, the animals, the little cottage,(two rooms and a small kitchenette downstairs and two bedrooms and a small bathroom upstairs.)  From our tiny living room we could see all the way down the valley to the Chatsworth House Fountain that shoots at least 50 feet in the air.

This was the view of Froggatt Edge from our house.

...and this is the view from the top of Froggatt looking down the valley.  If you can see the small patch of blue in the middle of the trees, that is the River Derwent.  Our row of cottages is somewhere on the edge of those trees.  Chatsworth house is way off in the distance.

I have been so blessed to live in many different places and in nearly all of them surrounded by exceptional beauty.  That's why I love to read your posts all you wonderful English bloggers.  I love Southern California.  I would love the desert of Arizona, but I have been indelibly impressed by the English countryside.  One day, maybe I'll tell you about Thornbridge Hall, my teacher training college which was located about 5 miles as the crow flies, from Froggatt.

For more blogs about "F" visit ABC WEDNESDAY -- you'll love it!

Thanks Denise Nesbitt, for this inspirational challenge.

I Didn't get Lost

Lots of things happening at the church right now. Possibly a new pastor -- after two years! Also had a couple of paintings to catch up with.  Then computer problems! UGH!  We'll say no more.  Now I have to get my post ready for ABC Wednesday.  I'll be back into a routine soon.  I am still visiting and commenting, when the computer will let me.

  Don't give up on me

Wednesday's Words on Thursday-- and one more painting.

This is my submission for the Virtual Paintout, which this month is located on Prince Edward Island of Canada.

Please visit Virtual Paintout to see other great paintings contributed to this blog.  I chose to do this painting of the cows because I thought it was so funny the way they were all turning very suspiciously to eye the car with the Google camera on top, as it passed.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at the link I gave above.

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WEDNESDAY'S WORD ON THURSDAY

Last week my Wednesday Word was rather long.  So this week I will try to shorten it


"Depend on the Lord; trust Him and He will take care of you."   Psalm 37:5
As as long as I have been a committed Christian, the more I have learned to trust God.  There's a lot of things as well as people I don't trust in this world today, but I know I can trust the Lord.  Trusting a person means you have to know them personally and know that they keep their word.  You can trust a person when you know he only wants the best for you and that he has the ability to to take care of you.  
It's rather like a good marriage. A husband and wife have to trust one another, not just to be faithful, but to be the person he/she claims to be.  I have been married 50 years and I know my husband.  I have trusted him for fifty years, I can trust him for the rest.  I have been a Christian for 53 years and I have learned to know God and to trust Him.  He's not going to change.  He's given His word.  I know He will take care of me, even when things don't seem to be going well.  He didn't promise to take me out of this world and its evil, but He did promise to be with me, take care of me and lead me through it all until He takes me home to be with Him. That's Someone worth trusting. Just trust Him to do what He says He will do.

E is for EYAM

The village of Eyam is not only a quaint little village in the northern part of Derbyshire, U.K. it has a wonderful and courageous history.

(All the photographs below are shown by courtesy of Dr. Brown and Mollie and are copyrighted by him.  If you would like to visit his web site with these and other great photos of England please  click on the LINK  here to find Dr. Phil and Mollie's Home Page. Thank you Dr. Brown.)

Well, to start with a picture of a museum is a bit dull, but look closely and you will see the weather vane on the roof is in the shape of a rat. Here's why:

In 1665/6  the Bubonic Plague (the Black Death) was raging through London and Europe. Some estimate that the number of people who died during these years was around a quarter of a million.  Some authorities say that around 500,000 people died in London alone.  As the plague spread from town to town, village to village, in England the number of deaths grew.  It is thought that originally the plague came from Holland, brought in among bales of cotton purchased by British merchants. Others say it came from further abroad and was brought by sailing merchants from country to country.  

As the plague spread northwards in England, it eventually reached the village of EYAM  located in the heart of some of Britain's most beautiful countryside, in Derbyshire. It is thought that the plague came to this little village, through a parcel of cotton cloth ordered from London by one of the villagers.  By now, everyone knew of the terrible toll the plague was taking every where it appeared.  So the brave and courageous inhabitants of EYAM made an astounding decision. 

 They quarantined themselves from the rest of the nation allowing no-one to enter or leave the village.  Food was left for them on the edge of the village and was picked up and distributed by the curate of the church. They washed everything they used in the fresh spring water from the Derbyshire hills.  But the plague was unrelenting.  It is estimated that probably 75% of the village died from the plague in 1665/6.

Nevertheless, amazingly the plague stopped at EYAM.  It traveled no further north in England, thanks to the unselfish and brave people of the village.

Cottages in EYAM where the plague ran rampant.

Meanwhile, in London,  there was another catastrophe.  The great fire of London broke out.  It spread rapidly, destroying homes, buildings and people.  Samuel Pepys and Daniel Defoe have written eye witness accounts of what seemed to be another tragic event.( go to your library for these accounts.)  But what seemed like a crippling blow was actually a blessing in disguise, for the fire cleansed the City of London of the plague.

Some of the cottages, graves and other markers of the plague can still be seen today in EYAM.  If you go to England, it is a great place to visit.

Horse troughs in use in the village at the time of the plague.

So what about the rat in the top photograph?  I think most people know that it was the rats in London and other cities of Europe that spread the disease, enabled by the communal water pumps.  

So next time you see a rat, think of the thousands of people who died because of the common rat.  But if you like rats, as some people do today, ( I am told they make good pets), remember the people who lost their lives in the GREAT PLAGUE outbreak in the 1660's and remember the stringent, self sacrifice of the people 

of  EYAM     

Visit my previous blog to see rats in action today in California.

Visit ABC Wednesday to see more E posts.